Jill ChurchillRessenyes

55618

read 2023; gave away

Sort of scattered mystery in small town Depression era New York. American born German arrives in town after fleeing Nazis. He is target of hate crimes but the murder of railroad porter seems unrelated.

Invited to plan a wedding, Jane and her friend Shelly, discover that there is supposedly a treasure on the grounds of the hunting lodge venue. The elderly seamstress is murdered with no suspect and no apparent motive. The bride hesitates but consents but the groom is murdered. Rather confused.

5VPWUAEN

Standard mystery, ditsy women, lots of over-explaining their thoughts. Off the wall premise: Jane is helping to watch the other's children at a ski resort? Yet she hardly spends time with them. Jane's boyfriend is along but we rarely hear what he is doing, other than "spending time with the boys" unless she needs to ask him to use his connections to get info. Has a weak Native American storyline connection.
Obviously this isn't my usual genre, & I would never have picked it up except it came boxed with 9 other audio tapes, some of which I wanted.½

Cast Of Characters
Jane Jeffry - heroine

Shelley Nowack - best friend

Mel - Cop and Jane's Boyfriend

Stefan Eckert - Director Arts and Crafts

Julie Jackson - teacher

Geneva Jackson Julie's sister

Dr. Stewart Eastman - fll-in teacher

Ursla Appledorn - classmate

Miss Martha Winstead - classmate

Charles Jones - classmate, Martha's neighbor

Arnold Waring - classmate

Katie JJ daughter
Mike JJ son

Good story about a gardening class gone awry.

This story is more about Jane and Mel getting married and less about solving the murders. Jane is dealing with the details of planning a wedding, but she is also fending off the heavy handed actions of both her ex-mother-in-law and her future mother-in-law. Yikes! There is not much to like about either one, but while Jane tries to play nice with them, she also refuses to be bullied by either woman. It’s an entertaining tale, if you like to read about weddings and wedding problems, but the mystery falls by the wayside.

Lily doesn’t figure much in this installment, and even Robert’s contribution is small. The character the story dwells on most is the sheriff. Robert decides the community needs some type of post office boxes for mail to keep nosy biddies from snooping through the bags that hold everyone’s mail. Meanwhile, the persecution of a newly arrived tailor from Germany, and the murder of a well-liked man keep the sheriff and his new deputy busy gathering evidence. It’s a short mystery, but still an intriguing one, set in the 1930’s. Compared to today’s standard for thrillers and murder mysteries, it’s a much gentler but still entertaining tale.

In this gentle cozy, Robert and Lily are working in a convalescent home. They must earn their keep to comply with their uncle’s will. When a cantankerous patient dies, not one was surprised. They all knew he had been at death’s door. But when an examination proved he had been murdered, everyone wondered why the killer just didn’t wait for the old man to die. The charm of this book isn’t so much with the mystery but rather with the characters. Robert and Lily are quite delightful, as are the secondary characters who people the story. The setting in the 1930’s is quite entertaining, as the people go about living their quiet lives, making do and just surviving the hard times.

It’s 1932, and siblings Lily and Robert have little to their name except for the mansion left to them by a relative. But there are strings attached to their inheritance. They must live in the mansion, and take in borders to make ends meet. When a badly disguised man wants to rent some rooms for a few days for some meetings, and offers a goodly amount of cash, they agree. But then one of the visitors is murdered, and now, the police must find the right motive to catch the killer. It’s a rather slow paced mystery, with much of the time taken up with character development and descriptions of the time and place. With historical aspects of the depression included, readers will see what life was like for these once affluent but now poor siblings. We see them finding odd jobs, helping others in even worse straits, and working with others in a spirit of community. It’s not a page turner, but still a worthwhile story.

Brother and sister, Robert and Lily Brewster, are living in the Grace and Favor mansion they have inherited from their Great Uncle Horatio Brewster. It may be elegant, but times are hard as it is the Depression. The farmers, who’d bought land from Uncle Horatio, were having a hard time paying their mortgages due to the economy and bad weather conditions. This has led Robert and Lily to taking odd jobs to bring in money.

They were approached by a nearby nursing home to lend a hand due to some staff shortages. They wound up finding themselves in the midst of a murder investigation, when one of the patients was found dead in his bed. The patient wasn’t well liked by his family or people he’d dealt with.

Further complications developed when the spring thaw revealed another dead body. The possibility of a relationship between the two deaths turns out to be quite strong. The question is who is the killer and what is the motive?

This is a fun cozy read with busy characters and a good amount of twists and turns.

Sadly, this is the final book in the Jane Jeffry Mystery series. It wasn't so much a mystery as it was a tying up of many of the story lines which have wound through the series over the years. Jane and Mel have finally decided to get married. Mel's Mom is determined torun the whole wedding, and Jane is standing up to her. Jane's first mother-in-law is trying to fleece Jane out of her fair share of the family's pharmacy business. Jane is also dealing with the publication of her first book. And, Mel wants Jane and Shelley to take a self-defense class, so he doesn't have to worry about them so much. It's a rather convoluted story, but the ending is relatively satisfying.½

Jane Jeffry is waiting to see if her first book will be accepted for publication. Her best friend Shelley has signed them up for needlepoint lessons. Shelley has volunteered to set up various catering services to provide snacks for a local college's summer theater production. Shelley wants Jane to tag along to check out the various caterers. Meanwhile things aren't going well for the play writer and director. Despite having 2 guest professional actors to bolster the local talent, there are troubles with the cast and the play itself. Then, one of the cast is found dead. Jane's significant other is in charge of the police investigation. This was a fun read with interesting quirky characters. The pace was fast, and the plot was fun with a good amount of twists and turns.

Jane Jeffry and her neighbor Shelley Nowack decide to attend a writer's workshop being held in a nearby hotel/convention center. The best thing is that they get to stay in a big fancy suite, as Shelley's husbsnd owns part of the hotel. Jane is nearly done writing her historical mystery and dearly wants to present it for possible publication, plus she wants to learn more tips of the writing trade. As luck would have it they meet one of Jane's favorite writers and become friends with her. She gives Jane a few tips on meeting with publishers, and warns them about an unidentified online muck raker, who enjoys stirring up trouble at these conventions. Weird things start happening right from the beginning: a pair of loud obnoxious costumed conventioneers disrupt the peace, a publisher ends up in the hospital, and a literary critic is attacked. Jane is determined to figure out what is going on in this otherwise enjoyable convention. I always enjoy the character Jane and Shelley. This was a very fast, sometimes hilarious, but mostly humdrum read. The ending was rather anti-climatic. I'm glad it was a short book.½

Jane Jeffry has a lot of time on her hands now that her kids are growing up. She's at standstill with th novel she has been writing. So her best friend, Shelley Nowack, wants her to think about being contracted to decorate an old Victorian mansion which is being renovated by a wealthy acquaintance, Bitsy Burnside. Bitsy, a feminist, invites Jane and Shelley to meet with Sandra, the construction manager. But, after the meeting, Jane realizes that the contractor isn't very competent or well liked. The contract which Bitsy gives them, is exceedingly poorly written by Sandra. The next day Jane and Shelley go to the old mansion to recheck room measurements, only to find a body at the bottom of the basement stairs. Jane and Shelley are curious as to who is causing so much trouble for Bitsy. This was a quick 4 hour read. i found the ending to be cut off too quickly and therefore not very satisfying.

It's summertime and Jane Jeffry and her best friend Shelley Nowack decide to take a botany course at the local junior college. Their yards could use some help. However, the teacher of the course is found bludgeoned inher basement, and now in a coma. A substitute lecturer is found. The course is a big yawn for Jane and Shelley, but the class makes them fix up their yards for class visits. Besides, Jane is very curious as to whom broke into their initial instructor's home. As far as mysteries go, this wasn't one of Churchill's best efforts. The story was moderately interesting, but not really exciting. There wasn't even a murder until the last 4th of the book. Dull.½

Jane Jeffry was asked to plan a wedding to be held at an old hunting lodge which was a former monastery. The bride was the only daughter of a very overbearing business owner. Jane convinced her best friend to come along and help out. The first day at the lodge had Jane very busy with the florist, caterer, cranky old relatives, unfinished bridesmaids' dresses, and surreptitious treasure hunting of a supposedly hidden treasure. That night a big storm knocked out the electricity. The next morning there was a dead body on the stairs. Jane and Shelley continued the wedding planning duties as the bride and her guests were soon to arrive. But, had the person simply tripped and fallen down the steps, or had something more sinister happened? This was another fun fast read. Churchill's writing never disappoints me.½

Jane Jeffry is a Chicago suburban widow with three kids, all of whom are home for the holidays. Jane is busy with holiday obligations like hosting the neighborhood after caroling dinner as well as the neighborhood cookie exchange. Just when she felt things were getting under control, her police detective boyfriend asked Jane if she could let his visiting mother stay in the guest room until he got his furnace fixed. Then Jane's neighbor informed her that a local tv reporter was going to be using Jane's house as a base of operations for a holiday special interest story he was doing on the neighborhood. Jane put her foot down and said absolutely not happening. Plus, new neighbors had just moved in next door. They had lit up their house for the holidays and were playing extremely loud Christmas music to the neighborhood's horror. The night of caroling went quite well except the reporter, a muck raker, decided to show up at Jane's house uninvited. Later that evening, the reporter was found dead on the neighbor's lawn. It was a good thing that Mel, Jane's boyfriend was still at the after caroling dinner. So much for a quiet uneventful family holiday season, as Jane and her best friend Shelley try to figure just exactly what was going on in their neighborhood. This was a fast fun 4 hour holiday read for me. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this series.½

Jane Jeffry and her best friend Shelley Nowack are on a school committee that is checking out a summer camp for kids in their district. It is a weekend long outing up in Wisconsin. The camp is beautiful, but has its share of problems. The biggest problem was caused by a bunch eco-terrorists who have gotten a county ordinance passed that no changes can be made to the camp. The owners are trying to encourage groups to come in for conferences. All is going well until Jane and Shelley discover a dead man killed by a cast iron frying pan. But, after calling the local sheriff, the body disappears. The weather at the camp goes bad, as Jane and Shelley try to figure out if they really saw a dead man in the first place. The book was fun until the last few chapters when the story gets bogged down by way to much dialogue and a less than satisfactory conclusion.

I'm sorry that this is the last published book in this series. Instead of focusing on the Brewster siblings of Grace and Favor Cottage, this novel centered around the Voorburg city Chief of Police, Howard Walker. A WW I veteran train porter is found murdered. Recently, he had kindly helped a local young widow with the heavy trunks her grandfather had brought from Germany. The grandfather is a tailor, setting up shop in town. He had just escaped Germany a few days before Hitler stopped people from leaving Germany. Someone painted a swastika on the tailor shop window. Howard wondered if the murder and vandalism were related. Hoard along with his new deputy set out to solve the crime. It was bittersweet reading this book as I know there is more to the goings on in Voorburg, NY, but no more books were published. I will miss the characters immensely.

This is a reread, and I started in the middle of the series, as I can't find the first 7 books packed away. Anyway... Jane Jeffers and her best friend, Shelly Nowack, volunteer at the local museum. The Sneeden Museum is dedicated to peas among other things, so it sponsors the local Pea Festival. This year, a Civil War enactment needed volunteer extras, and among them are Shelly and Jane. Unfortunately, during the reenactment, someone used live ammunition causing a death. The death put the museum into chaos as the death made no sense. Shelly and Jane set about finding the reason, as they didn't want to be volunteering in a place which might have a murderer lurking about. This was a fun fast read. Plenty of tiny clues were given to help the reader solve the mystery.½

This is another great addition to the Grace and Favor Mystery series. Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster are helping out at a nursing home, until one of the workers starts feeling better. The first day there, one of the residents is found dead, smothered with a pillow. The odd thing was that he would probably have died later that day due to a severe infection. chief of Police Howard Walker is called upon to investigate. The new widow, a statuesque strong woman, was furious that her husband died before planting season could get underway. Howard was investigating several other suspects. Meanwhile, Robert decided that the nursing home needed a dumb waiter, to lessen the workload in the large 2 story house. An interesting tale of greed, hate, and dysfunctional families. I am very sad that there is only one morr published book in the series.½

This series gets better and better. I so enjoy all the historical background, especially that of the building of the Hoover Dam and the election of FDR. Churchill's writing style is a pleasure to read.

Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster have inherited their Great Uncle's estate and mansion , Grace and Favor Cottage. In order to support themselves in 1932 upstate New York, they have decided to take in boarders. A mysterious man comes to the door and rents rooms for the weekend for an outrageously large amount of money. Lily couldn't afford to waste the opportunity. With trepidation the siblings decide to agree on the mysterious renters. Meanwhile the local school principal is in desperate need of a substitute teacher, as her 5/6 grade teacher needed to leave for an appendix operation. Lily and Robert agree to split the teaching position until the teacher returns, as it is a paying position. However, the mysterious weekend renter is found stabbed to death in the bathtub. Chief of Police Howard Walker sets out to find the murderer with the help of Lily.

Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster were born into a wealthy family, but all that changed with the 1929 Stock Market Crash. After living in a NYC tenement, they were informed that they inherited their late Uncle Horatio's estate and holdings, but with conditions. They had live on the estate fir 10 yrs, and support themselves. They were too embarrassed to let their new community know that they were moneyless. During their second summer at Grace and Favor Cottage, the world was changing. Many of the local Great War veterans had headed to Washington D.C. for the Bonus Army March. The Bonus was money promised to the veterans, but not to be given to them until 1945. With so much of the country out of work, the veterans wanted the money to be distributed now. Jack, the local newspaper editor decided to go check out the March. Meanwhile Robert found a mummified man in an icehouse which he was tearing down for the wood and building supplies. The mummy was unidentifiable. Lily joined a local woman's organization which tried to help those is need. One of the members, the local vegetable grower, had her husband found dead. Lily and Robert took it upon themselves to solve these murders.

I learned about the Bonus Army March, and how President Hoover forcefully disbanded it using the military. I had never heard of this March. Churchill weaves a truthful tale about how the Depression effected the life of the general population. A very well written historical mystery.